One day at a time

Day 24: Cracking down and losing patience

Not me, I’m actually fairly relaxed these days because my four students are pretty good about sticking to their routines.

The only time I have to patrol a little more is their chore slot, because even with me working at the kitchen counter certain children think it’s okay not to vacuum when they should be, or to sit on their phones rather than scrub a toilet.

Even that is subsiding somewhat as they get used to the idea of Mom being at home even when she’s “at work.”

But they’re starting to crack down on themselves – at least where school is concerned. When those alarms ring and it’s time to get to work, they don’t need to be reminded.

There are timetables upstairs where Brooke has laid out what needs to be done and when, so she stays on top of her English and social studies assignments through the week.

Alyssa gets herself set up at the counter and moves seamlessly from one subject to the next without any prodding (this one is the biggest surprise for me, not going to lie. I’m not even sure why).

Christian has his own strategy in place: one subject per day, and he’s finished by Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning, which leaves more time for his non-core endeavours like baking, cooking or science experiments.

The motivation shown by my three biggest kids is remarkable, and I couldn’t be more proud. They rarely need even a gentle push in the right direction and I think that’s why they’re still thriving.

It’s getting harder and harder to keep Hannah motivated – any other kindergarten parents feeling the same way? And it’s not that she doesn’t enjoy the work – she absolutely loves to read and write, but without a formal teacher and her classmates, focusing for longer than a few minutes is proving to be a challenge for her.

She’s trying.

And when she decides she doesn’t want to do it anymore, the whining comes out. And the bugging. Mosquito Hannah strikes every afternoon by 3 without fail. We encourage her to move, do the body breaks sent by her teacher or just dance around the room to the music, or distract her with other activities.

There’s one thing she’s sure to see through to the end, most of the time: art projects.

I’m not typically a Pinterest mom, but this week I’ve taken to browsing boards during the evening to find fun activities that will keep the five-year-old entertained when she’s had enough for the day but the rest of us still have work to do.

We’ve been doing all kinds of Easter-themed art this week, like an Easter egg decorated by dipping wine corks into paint. She carried on for an hour making flowers and other creations with those DIY paint stamps, so that was a win.

Today we could barely get her to finish a drawing before she didn’t want to do it anymore.

At this moment, the child is playing outside because she needed fresh air and I needed to work in peace. She’s quite happy to do so, too – there’s sun, there’s snow, there are balls and scooters and nobody telling her she needs to “wait a minute please,” “stop poking me,” or “let me finish this first.”

The days are not all rosy, but I’m trying, too.

Patience has never been my strongest virtue and it’s being put to the test by the minute. As much as I hoped Hannah would come out of this a more patient little girl, I certainly feel myself becoming a more patient mom.

What other choice do I have?

Krista Conrad, OkotoksToday.ca

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